Fireworks Against the Moon
by bluejanes
Summary: When you're reborn into the body of Molly Weasley's older sister, you know that you're in for a long ride. At least this time I'll get a life to live to the fullest. SI/OC fic. Semi-crack fic with occasional dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

Death isn't final. At least, it wasn't for me. When my lingering soul slipped into another body, I knew that I'd have a whole new life in front of me. And frankly, I wanted this chance. I'd tried lived my life to the fullest, and I'd gone out with a bang. Literally. I'd been in a mall, casually shopping for some a new dress for my twenty-third birthday when a bomb went off, and I just went to pieces. After that agonizing experience, I really wanted more time to live. I hadn't been able to finish anything I wanted to do, and when my life ended in a flash, I regretted everything I hadn't done. I just needed more time. And this time, I'd make sure I lived with no regrets.

I was brought into a world of laughter and warm chatter. The woman holding me, presumably my mum, was cooing at me and showing me off to my two brothers.

"Look, it's your little sister, Genevieve." She said softly, affection filling her tone.

The two boys at her bedside clambered onto the bed to get a closer look at me, and my dad, who was standing next to them, smiled broadly.

"Just look at her, Isla. She's beautiful." My mum glowed happily and raised me up towards him.

"Here. Why don't you hold your new daughter?" My dad took me gently, treating me like a porcelain doll, and I instantly knew that I was loved by my family. My brothers were babbling to the side, with all the eloquence of one and a half year old boys, and made comments like "Red!".

My life as a newborn baby actually passed rather quickly; I slept most of the time, and worked on training my annoyingly weak muscles. This exhausted me quickly, but I was glad I was progressing at a fast pace, based on the shower of compliments my parents awarded me with.

"Mum!" I called out to my mum, deciding to let that be my first word—she cared for me and loved me so much that I was afraid she was going to smother me with affection sometimes.

"Look at my little genius!" She squealed joyfully, "Look, Albert! She's already said her first word!"

My dad grinned widely, "You smart little baby, you. You're going to be even more trouble than your brothers, aren't you?"

I nodded cheekily—my brothers Fabian and Gideon were the definition of wild, but I was confident I'd be worse than them when I finally mastered walking. At this point, I was nearing the age of one, the twins were three, and my mum was heavily pregnant with another child. My parents were pretty _active_ people. While she was in the hospital, I'd resolved to learn how to walk so I could surprise her and my new sister with it.

Between my brothers and my development, I was always busy. I'd quickly realized I was born into a family with magic—which was crazy and I freaked out the first time I saw my dad use his wand—and it didn't take me long to figure out I was in the world of Harry Potter through my brothers' names. Prewett was a dead giveaway. It wasn't much of a setback, and I was just evilly gleeful that I could use magic. Fabian and Gideon were constantly trying to trigger my accidental magic—which annoyed the hell out of me—and would constantly antagonize me. I could crawl like a hellion, but I could barely keep up with their insane antics. However, I was a vindictive little shit, and I always got them back. They were just getting into pranking, and I could tell my mum and dad's time trying to raise us wasn't going to be pretty. Fortunately, I developed quickly and was strong enough to watch over myself while my dad watched over my brothers and cleaned up their messes. My mum was too heavily pregnant to do anything other than sit and waddle, so I took pity on her and behaved myself until Molly was born.

It was actually kind of exciting, waiting to meet Molly. She'd been such a warm and strong character in the books, and I couldn't wait to meet her. I loved my family dearly, and I knew I would love her too.

However, I was so caught up in my new life that I didn't realize how much I missed my old family until I started searching for my sister's familiar presence and my mother's warm stability. Their voices lingered in my ears, and I ached for them at times at night, when I was alone and scared of the new world I had been placed in.

But I was now Genevieve Prewett—which I noted, was scarily similar to Ginevra—and I had to accept it. To be honest, though, I accepted it with open arms. I locked my previous family into a special place in my heart, a place that only I would ever know. I'd never see them again, but I'd continue to love them in my memories.

When I finally learned how to walk, mum was already in the hospital and was due to give birth very soon. Walking was a struggle, because my legs were all wobbly, like a newborn giraffe's, but I got used to it and my legs strengthened to the point where I could run after my brothers and punch them in the chest when irritated.

I stumbled into the hospital rooms, right behind my brothers, and grinned toothily at my mum. "Mum!" I called enthusiastically, ready to meet my new sister.

Fabian and Gideon gave her identical shouts and ran towards her as well. My dad followed quietly behind us, but I could tell he was thrumming with excitement and love as well.

I looked at the small bundle and my arms, and felt fierce love and joy wash over me. This was my family, this was _my_ little sister. And I wouldn't let anyone hurt the people I cared about.

Molly was actually a rather quiet baby, compared to my brothers and I. I'd screamed my lungs off when I was hungry, just because I could. There was something liberating about screaming as loud as you wanted to, without any consequences.

I got along very well with my brothers. They ran around trying to pull pranks on everyone, but my adult mindset could catch every prank they tried to pull on me. Eventually, they realized that they only had failed attempts whereas I pranked the pants off them every time they tried to prank me. They started letting me in on their plans for wreaking havoc, and I have to say, even though it drove my parents crazy, it was great.

By the time I was fully coherent and reading whatever books I could get my hands on, Molly was four, and at the age where she idolized me and followed me everywhere. I read a lot, but they were mostly books about spells and potions, and new things I could mix together to create different types of spells for new pranks. Molly would read along with me, but she read simpler books about dragons and witches and goblins. She read _Tales of the Beedle Bard_ almost every day, and got my mum to read it out loud to her too. My brothers were also too young to read difficult books, but their genius in controlling accidental magic made up for it.

I, too, had no trouble controlling my accidental magic. It basically exploded everywhere and we ran around the house leaving destruction in our paths. It was insanely fun to play around with my brothers, and now that I had Molly as a sidekick, we had prank wars every day. Pranking had really increased my control over my magic, and I was aiming for wandless magic, because it would be a lot easier to wreak havoc without notice.

A magical house was loads of fun, and there was never a day where I was bored. I loved figuring out all the details and nuances between different types of magic, and I was constantly trying to beat my brothers at their own game. Molly was the baby of the family, though, and my brothers and I had an unspoken rule to never prank her too badly. We all had a soft spot for her.

Life was never boring, too, because we had a ton of relatives, and they always came over. My uncle Ignatius and his wife Lucretia came over often, and it was a pretty horrifying day when I learned that I was related to the Black family by marriage. I was okay with it though; my aunt Lucretia was cool, and she always brought us presents. Molly adored our uncle Ignatius, and I could tell he favored her too. I generally liked all my relatives, but we had one aunt that I loved practicing my pranks on. Fabian and Gideon hated her with a passion, and I could tell Molly hated her too—she just hid it better.

"Aunt Muriel's coming over today." Mum told us. We all groaned collectively.

"Oh hell, please, no. I think I just got sick. Look, I'm coughing really badly. Maybe I should just go to my room and rest for the remainder of the day." I started to walk up the stairs, but my mum grabbed the edge of my shirt and hauled me back. My brothers started sniggering and I resisted the urge to give them the finger and shot them dirty looks instead.

"Let's see how funny it is when you wake up with green faces." I muttered darkly.

"I'm sure that'd match our hair-" "-Christmas spirit, we always say!" Fabian and Gideon cheered, and their bright honey brown eyes sparkled with amusement. Molly just giggled, and mum's mouth was pursued with suppressed laughter.

"Young lady, you will be nice to her. I know she's hard to deal with, but she's your aunt. And that goes for you boys as well. Best behavior, you hear me? And Molly, I know you'll be perfect." Molly beamed, and the twins grumbled while I just ran through different schemes I could pull off without being suspected. I could always blame it on the twins.

"C'mon, Molls, don't you at least want to see her hideous face burn red with horror and anger?" I asked after mum left to prepare dinner.

Fabian and Gideon came up behind me. "Great idea, sis!" Fabian said. "We've still got some leftover fireworks, I wonder how we can pull that off." Continued Gideon, looking positively evil as he and his twin considered the possibilities.

"I don't even want to know where a pair of ten year old boys got those fireworks." I deadpanned. They cackled madly in response. Diagon Alley was actually a pretty liberal place that sold people anything, as long as they had money, and it wasn't related to the Dark Arts. Thank Merlin we had allowances, though our parents probably regretted that decision. The twins had probably gotten their fireworks from Diagon Alley, though I wondered how they'd snuck the Floo Powder without our parents noticing. I guessed I'd have to bribe it out of them later.

Molly tugged on my hand, "Gen, I don't think that's a good idea. Mum'll kill us. Strangle us in our sleep. Poison our dessert. Anything could happen!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Molls, what the hell have you been reading?"

"Oooooh," chorused my brothers, "Gen used a bad word! No chocolate cake for you tonight, sis."

"What?!" I shrieked, horrified by the prospect of not getting dessert, "You'd better not tell mum or I'll tell her where your stash of dungbombs are!"

"Oh shit-" "-how in Merlin's saggy balls did you find out?" They asked, alarmed.

Molly laughed, "Look who's saying bad words now." I high-fived her and we ran up to my room. I was going to pull a prank on Aunt Muriel, and that was that. Now I just had to get Molly to help me.

"Next time we play Quidditch, I won't let Fabian and Gideon be beaters." I bargained with her. The twins were vicious when it came to Quidditch, and they'd given Molly and me a tons of bruises and a few broken bones already. They were always sorry for it, but those two seriously had no inhibitions when it came to Quidditch.

Molly eyed me for a moment, "Deal." We shook hands on it, and I whispered my plan to her.

When Aunt Muriel finally arrived, I was almost bouncing into the roof with anticipation and glee, and I smirked slyly and rubbed my hands together. Molly looked slightly worried, but she was also a bit excited for the prank as well. I had no idea what Fabian and Gideon were doing, but I hoped it wouldn't clash with my prank.

We all sat down to eat dinner, mum eyeing the twins and me suspiciously, but I gave her an innocent look and a shrug. She didn't buy it.

Dad was asking Muriel how she was doing, and when she opened her mouth to reply, a fart ripped through the air. There was dead silence. We all stared at Aunt Muriel (though Molly and I knew the real cause of the fart) and her face turned an ugly lobster red. She tried to deny the sound, but as soon as she started to say something, another fart noise sounded. I kept a straight face, even though I was dying to bust a gut from laughing. Molly, surprisingly, had an amazing poker face, and she even painted an expression of innocent curiosity on her face.

"Aunt Muriel, you okay?" I asked her in a saccharine tone. Besides me, my brothers were trying to hide their sniggers and failing miserably. Aunt Muriel, having apparently not learned her lesson yet, opened her mouth to answer me and farted again. Fabian and Gideon burst into laughter, and mum and dad sat there, so shocked that they didn't even know how to salvage the rapidly deteriorating situation.

" _Fabian and Gideon Prewett_ ," mum started. She was, however, interrupted by a massive fart sound that exploded against the walls. Aunt Muriel had stood up to start screaming at us, but she'd forgotten that the trigger for the noises for the farts were her mouth. And then, red fireworks exploded everywhere immediately after the fart. The walls shook with the force, and bright dazzles of red drizzled like rain over us.

I took one look at my brothers' faces and knew it was them. I couldn't hold it back anymore—I slapped my hand on the table and started laughing hysterically. I guess Molly couldn't hold it back either, because she started laughing too.

Pretty soon, our whole family was laughing, though Aunt Muriel was looking painfully embarrassed. She glowered at our family and stormed out the door.

"Oh Merlin," gasped Fabian, "That was gold!"

"Yeah," agreed Gideon, "I didn't know our pranks would work together so well."

I smirked, shoulders still shaking with humor, "Please allow a moment of silence for this sheer brilliance."

At this, mum quickly wiped away all evidence of her amusement, "GENEVIEVE, GIDEON, AND FABIAN PREWETT, I DARE YOU TO EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. I TOLD YOU NOT TO PRANK YOUR AUNT!"

"But mum," whined Fabian, "That crazy old bat was totally going to start on one of her tirades where she starts insulting us." "I swear, she's crazy." Added Gideon.

Mum's eye twitched and she turned her stormy glare on them, "I DON'T CARE. YOU THREE WILL BE DOING ALL THE HOUSEWORK FOR THE NEXT MONTH. WITHOUT MAGIC."

Horrified, I immediately fell onto my knees. "Oh your great and kind majesticness, please forgive this poor, unworthy soul."

Molly turned her face to hide her giggles. The corner of mum's lips twitched, but she growled at me nonetheless. "NO EXCEPTIONS."

"Fine." I grumbled, "Fabian and Gideon better not skive off on their duties. Like usual."

"Hey!" Yelped Gideon. "You promised you wouldn't tell!" Continued Fabian.

"Sucks to suck!" I called, and grabbed Molly and ran to the living room, where we (more like I) gleefully listened to the sounds of mum's screaming. Dad, who had retired there, just shook his head with fond exasperation.

"How this house ever survived you kids growing up, I'll never know." He told us dryly.

"But you love us anyway." I chirped happily. Molly's face was the image of an angel.

Dad laughed, "Always."

We called that night the "Dinner Fiasco", though I had to admit, dinner was a chaotic time for us, so there was pretty much a new fiasco every week.

As soon as my brothers turned eleven, our parents took us on a big shopping spree at Diagon Alley. Dad was a high ranking Ministry official, and as a prominent Pureblood family, we had a huge family vault. It was nice to be rich, but mum never let us spend our money carelessly.

Since I'd be attending Hogwarts in one year, I decided to get an owl, and stopped by the Magical Menagerie. There were cages and cages full of owls, but one particular owl caught my eye. It was a large barn owl, nothing special, but its eyes were sharp and aware; they bored into my soul.

"I'll take that one." I pointed to the owl, and the cashier gave me a strange look. I raised an eyebrow in challenge and he glanced away.

Mum stared at the owl, "Are you sure, Gen? It looks like that owl might be a lot harder to handle than the others."

I snorted, "I'll be alright, mum."

"That'll be ten Galleons and three Knuts." As mum handed over the money, I reached over and took the cage into my hands gently.

"Hey," I told the owl, "Nice to meet you." The owl hooted softly in reply, its eyes gleaming at me. "I think I'll name you Loki."

"Loki?" Echoed my mum, confused.

"You know, the Norse God of mischief?" I told her, smirking. Loki clacked his beak in agreement.

Mum just sighed and shook her head, "I should have known. Thank you." She directed the last part towards the cashier, who just nodded.

I placed the cage into mum's hands, "Please take care of him. I've got a book shop to visit." I needed some new books for new ideas to outprank my brothers, and it wasn't easy when they had two minds instead of one. I'd need to step up my game and start inventing some new spells and magical items.

And before I knew it, it was time for my brothers to leave for Hogwarts.

"You'd better write every day." Mum demanded, tears gleaming in her eyes.

Dad nodded, "We'll be looking for that owl, boys."

"Awww, once a month?" They whined in unison.

That just set mum off into another round of sobbing, "My boys are all grown up now." She turned into an incoherent mess and hugged them tightly. Dad had to pry her away and he held her while uttering his goodbyes to the twins.

The station was hot and crowded, but that didn't really affect me. It was so weird, seeing my brothers go. The house would be lonely without them, but I had Molly to keep me company.

Molly hugged the two of them, "Bring me back some sweets?" She asked.

They grinned, "Of course! And we'll add in a few pranks at Hogwarts just for you."

Molly rolled her eyes fondly, and smiled sweetly. "I'll miss you two."

I stepped up and hugged them as well, "Have fun, brats. Make sure to send Hogwarts into a state of panic. And I'll miss you two, so you guys better write. Or else."

They laughed, "No problem at all sis. We'll miss the whole family. See ya at Christmas!" They waved and boarded the train. As we watched the train depart and waved goodbye to them, I felt a sense of excitement and jealousy grip my heart. I couldn't wait to go to Hogwarts. The steam from the train trailed off into the air, and we kept watching until there was nothing left to watch.

And we turned around and went home.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **EDIT: This is now a semi-crack fic. I just realized all the directions I could go with a character who doesn't care about anything. So a bunch of shit happens, and this is kind of a parody. Genevieve's character is NOT good-even though she wants to save her family, she hangs more on the blurry lines of grey morals. She doesn't see the effects and consequences of her actions because she's entirely (and selfishly) focused on what _she_ wants. **

**I wanted to experiment with a new style of writing, so I thought, why not another fic? Compared to my other story, this one's plot for Genevieve's childhood moments will move on rather quickly, and I'll mostly be focusing on her time in Hogwarts. This story is a lot lighter than my other one- it focuses more on living life as happily as possible while knowing there's a war coming; unlike my other one, which focuses on tiny details and burdens of future knowledge. So yeah, this story is almost its complete opposite. And like my other story, this is completely unedited, so I'd really appreciate constructive criticism and any comments. As usual, thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Life without my brothers was strange. I'd gotten used the sound of their shouts and laughter filling up the house. It would almost feel lonely, if I didn't have Molly with me. For some reason, she looked up to me and tried to do everything I did.

Unfortunately for her, I wasn't the greatest role model. I really didn't give a shit about what I did.

Accidentally blowing up half of the house with a failed firework experiment? No worries. Destroying my entire bedroom and shattering all the windows? Just another day in the Prewett household.

I really didn't know how my mum dealt with me. She'd probably been a saint in her previous life.

It helped that magic was so convenient—just a flick and a swish there, and the most destructive of my acts could be repaired in a few seconds. After seeing my mum repair the entire roof with a wave of her wand, I'd concluded she was some kind of genius. Honestly, she made everything look as easy as boiling water (not that I could do that without messing up).

Somewhere along the way, she'd gotten tired of screaming at all the havoc I wreaked on a daily basis, and just accepted it as a part of her life. Thankfully for her, she had Molly—who was quickly becoming an anti-Genevieve destruction expert—and the two bonded over doing household chores.

This puzzled me, because chores were one of the dullest things in my life, excluding textbooks. But for some reason, Molly liked cleaning up—she'd mentioned that it made her feel good about herself—so it was probably therapeutic for her or something.

For me, though, I found blowing things up to be therapeutic. There was just something about the way something so neat and orderly could be turned into utter chaos in the span of a few seconds. If I had been born into a Muggle family, they'd probably have diagnosed me with some kind of mental illness. But this was a magical family, and my parents just chalked it up to my affinity with fireworks and my ever-growing curiosity with new ideas for pranks.

My magic was extremely volatile, and I tended to blow things up whenever my emotions went haywire. So basically, there was nothing my parents could do about the daily explosions I made, besides trying to teach me how to control my emotions. That hadn't really worked, so they'd actually developed a whole set of directions that they followed for the aftermath of a Genevieve explosion.

I was a hundred percent sure that my mum regretted giving me monthly allowance and Floo-powder access to Diagon Alley. (I bought all my supplies from Diagon Alley since I hadn't gotten my wand yet).

Still, despite my shortcomings, my family loved me; and for that, I couldn't thank them more. Family was one of the most important things in the Prewett household, and we were a close family as a result. It was weird, at first, to have such an affectionate and loving family, but I'd gotten used to it, and it only made me love them more.

0000

The day I realized that my brothers and I had accidentally corrupted Molly was a terrifying day for me.

We'd brought out her wild side—she'd been such a shy and sweet, child, but I guess that the insanity my brothers and I created (well at least when my brothers were back for the holidays) had given her a mischievous and sharp edge. I wasn't surprised—after all, with all the havoc we wreaked while growing up, you'd have to be at least a little crazy to survive it all.

By this time, my brothers were well into their second year of Hogwarts, and I'd become a lot more diabolical.

Whenever my mum invited other Pureblood families with kids our age over, I'd annoy the crap out of the kids. It was hilarious, seeing their chubby cheeks glow red with rage, and they'd descend on me, trying to destroy me with all their childish wrath.

Finding what made other people tick had become a habit that I didn't plan on getting rid of.

This day, mum had invited the Blacks over. The Prewetts were a mostly neutral family, and my parents wanted to stay on the good side of both Dark and Light families. They didn't want anyone giving them crap for staying neutral, so they often house parties to get into everyone's good books. Molly and I were often exploited—well, I called it exploited, my dad called it good practice for future alliances—and were forced to befriend the children of other Pureblood families.

Molly was always the perfect hostess, playing nicely with all the other children and being polite to the adults. I, on the other hand, was pretty much a menace.

But today, mum had invited the Blacks, a prominent Dark Pureblood family, over for dinner. I guessed that it was because I would be starting Hogwarts in a few months, and they wanted me to have some connections before I went to school. (There had been a few Slytherins in the Prewett ancestry, and I think my parents were guessing that I'd be in Slytherin, for some reason).

"You MUST be on your absolute, best behavior. Understand?" Mum threatened, warning me with a deadly glare. "The Blacks are a very important family, and if you cause trouble, they could give our family a lot of difficulty."

"Yeah, yeah." I drawled, looking bored. I'd heard the "be on your best behavior" speech hundreds of times. I tried every time, I really did. But it got monotonous, fast. So I usually turned into an annoying hellion that played subtle but annoying pranks on the guests. The best part was, they never figured out why their forks were suddenly disappearing, or why their shoes were covered in neon pink glitter, so they'd leave the house in extreme confusion.

"Make sure your sister stays on her best behavior, okay Molly?" Mum instructed Molly. She had her serious face on, and Molly nodded solemnly like she was going onto a top secret mission to save to world or something.

"Please, mum. I'm always on my best behavior." I grinned innocently.

Molly and mum shot me identical looks of disbelief and exasperation.

"Just make sure Gen doesn't cause any trouble." Sighed my mum, rolling her eyes.

"Got it!" Chirped Molly. She turned to me and smirked. "I'm watching you."

I just sniggered under my breath and skipped away before Molly could bring out her death glare. She could probably kill a horde of sharks with that glare.

While I absolutely loved creating chaos, I also was acting out a bit more in the months before I had to leave for Hogwarts. After all, once I left, my mum wouldn't have anyone to clean up after, or to yell at for breaking something. I figured I could just go crazy for a bit and savor the times with my family before I had to leave.

The Blacks had been over once in the past (my uncle Ignatius _had_ married Lucretia Black, after all), but I'd gone out to Diagon Alley that time to avoid them, breaking every rule in Pureblood society. It kind of shamed me, but I was scared of meeting Bellatrix Black. In the books, she'd been an absolutely insane murder who was crazy about blood purity. Not to mention the fact she'd worshipped Voldemort like he was the second coming of Merlin.

I'd have to face her, no matter what I wanted, so this would be the best time to do it. She was around seven at the moment, so hopefully, she still had a bit of childish naivety and innocence (though it wasn't likely).

According to mum, Andromeda was six, and Narcissa was three. They probably would get along best with Molly. I was hoping that they wouldn't be snotty blood purists yet, though I doubted it. The Blacks were notorious for their stress on keeping bloodlines pure.

I wasn't sure about how Andromeda would be, but I guess out of the three sisters, I wanted to meet her the most. It took a certain amount of badassery to be born a Black, break away from your family, and marry a Muggleborn.

The doorbell rang shrilly, and I tried not to wince. I was _not_ ready for this.

"Molly?" I asked, gripping her sleeve tightly. She flashed me a confused and concerned look.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I took a deep breath to steel my nerves. If I was going to meet Bellatrix Black, I might as well get onto her good side. I wasn't invincible, after all, and I didn't need an enemy. I wanted to live as long as I possibly could this time around.

"Ah, Druella, Cygnus! It's so good to see you. How are you two doing? Three daughters can be quite a handful, I'd imagine." Mum greeted them warmly, ushering them inside. Dad welcomed them as well, and led them to the fancy seating area that we normally weren't allowed to touch.

As the Blacks were settling down in the parlor, my mum shot me a look that screamed "go greet them!" and I pinched myself to dissipate my fears before striding over to where the Blacks were sitting.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Black. I'm Genevieve Prewett." I curtsied, and Molly did the same.

Druella Black was holding a young Narcissa in her lap, and I had to admit, it was the most adorable thing ever.

"These are my children, Narcissa, Andromeda, and Bellatrix." Introduced Druella. Cygnus just gave Molly and me a nod and sat there with a cool expression.

Bellatrix introduced herself with a rare self-confidence and a cocky smirk. She really did have wild hair, as described in the books. Even as a child, it had to be wrestled into a braid that was barely staying together. She hadn't quite reached the point of insanity yet, but I could see a haughtiness in her that would be present through the rest of her life.

Andromeda, on the other hand, smiled kindly and seemed much calmer than her older sister. I could tell Molly liked her, and I did too.

Narcissa was too young to really introduce herself, but she waved a chubby fist at us and went back to playing with her mum's necklace. I had to hold in a squeal from her sheer cuteness.

As the adults descended into conversation, I took the lead, as the oldest, and took the others to a separate room where we could play. I was carrying Narcissa, and Molly was trying to make conversation with Andromeda and Bellatrix.

"Hey," I cooed to Narcissa, "What's your name?"

"Narcissa." She answered shyly, turning her face away.

"Awww, you're so cute!" I squealed, holding her closer to me. She blushed lightly and giggled into my neck.

Narcissa and I were in our own bubble as I tried to get her to open up to me. She was actually a really sweet child. Although she'd eventually be a regal and haughty Malfoy, she was the cutest child I'd ever seen—aside from Molly of course.

Meanwhile, Molly started chatting with Bellatrix and Andromeda about flying. I didn't bother to include my input in the conversation. In all honesty, I still felt a bit uncomfortable around Bellatrix, but I knew that I'd have to get rid of the feeling. We were only children, for Merlin's sake. She wasn't evil—yet.

"Have you got a broom?" She asked curiously. We all had the newest brooms, since my brothers and gotten the two of us into flying. It was the best thing after explosions.

"Yeah," Bellatrix said proudly, "And I'm gonna try out for the Beater position when I go to Hogwarts."

"Me too." Andromeda smiled, "But I think I'm going to try for Keeper."

"I love flying but I don't think I'll be any good at Quidditch." Molly gave them a sheepish look.

"Really?" Sneered Bellatrix, "You scared of Bludgers? Or you can't fly well?"

Andromeda flashed her sister a warning look.

"No," Molly frowned, "I just don't want to fly competitively, that's all."

"What are you talking about? Winning's everything!" Bellatrix looked a bit crazed (or maybe it was just my prejudice against her).

Molly kept quiet. She wasn't very happy with Bellatrix's personality so far, and I could tell she was holding in her temper. Her ears had gone a bit red, and she kept her eyes glued to the wall as they walked.

"I get it." Andromeda told her softly, and hooked an arm around hers. "If I didn't like the thrill so much, I wouldn't play Quidditch either."

There was a small moment of silence as Molly beamed at Andromeda and Bellatrix digested the fact that her sister was siding with a stranger.

"Bella's mad." Narcissa whispered solemnly, "She's gonna yell."

Well, this wasn't going exactly as planned, but at least I had a warning. Narcissa was really perceptive for a three year old.

"Shut up!" Bellatrix screeched. There it was. The volcano eruption.

I sighed wearily. I really didn't want to deal with a bratty seven year old's temper tantrum, but I had a feeling that if Bellatrix didn't get along with us, the Blacks wouldn't be having a terribly good impression of Molly and I any time soon.

She continued to fume loudly and I quickly shut the door so the adults wouldn't hear.

There was a nervous tension in the room, and Andromeda was starting to look a bit cowed by her sister's screaming.

This was not turning out to be a good day.

I clutched Narcissa tightly and she buried her face into my neck. Her body trembled slightly, but I could tell that Bellatrix's tantrums were a common occurrence from the look on Andromeda's face.

Bellatrix continued to rant loudly. "I'm the right one! Not her! Not that stupid Prewett girl. Flying's for winning, idiots!"

"Shut up!" Exploded Molly, red in the face.

I jerked in surprise. It was the first time I'd ever seen her yell at a stranger. Most of the time, Molly was polite and understanding towards others. She wasn't an overly temperamental person, but I guess Bellatrix just rubbed her the wrong way.

"What did you just say to me, ugly?" Asked Bellatrix dangerously.

Things were quickly going downhill and if I didn't do something soon, the whole situation would get out of hand. The whole "ugly" comment wouldn't have usually bothered Molly, but she was already angry, so it was just adding fuel to the fire.

"The damn sun is shining so you two better stop arguing and enjoy the shitty day before I set your hair on fire!"

Well, there went my award for cleanest language.

"What?" Spluttered Molly, giving me a strange look. "What does the sun have to do with anything?"

"I have no idea." I told her gravely.

"You can't make me!" yelled Bellatrix shrilly. She advanced toward me with the intent of pulling my hair out, but I carefully set Narcissa on the floor. And promptly set Bellatrix's hair on fire.

"Haha! Take that!" I laughed evilly as Bellatrix ran around the room like a headless chicken. That's right. I wasn't a very good person either. I had absolutely no qualms in setting someone's hair on fire.

Andromeda shot me a horrified look and quickly ran towards her sister. "Calm down! Stop! Genevieve, please put it out!" She begged me desperately.

I really didn't want to, but Molly was giving me The Look, so I put it out. It was kind of amusing, how Molly had looked as cool as a cucumber during the whole hair-on-fire-thing (she was already used to these kind of things) and how Narcissa had just sat there, wide-eyed. Andromeda had been the only one to spring into action.

Bellatrix panted heavily from the other side of the room as Andromeda patted her back soothingly.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do." Andromeda told me unhappily.

"I'm not a very nice person. And I don't like it when people make fun of my sister."

As I reached down to pick up Narcissa, I smirked triumphantly. No one messed around with Molly and got away with it.

Narcissa cocked her head at me curiously. "How you make Bella's hair go fire?"

"Magic." I winked.

She clapped her hands excitedly and cheered. "Fun!"

"What the hell?" Screeched Bellatrix, once she'd recovered. "You won't get away with this!"

"Meh." I told her nonchalantly, "Do what you want. I don't really care."

And I really didn't care anymore. Why had I even been so scared of a child? She was even younger than me, and she was human. She wasn't a terrifying murderer. She was just as vulnerable as me. Setting her hair on fire had opened my eyes to that, and it was satisfying.

Bellatrix let out a roar of frustration and tried to lunge at me, but Andromeda held her back.

"Stop! She'll set your hair on fire again."

For the rest of the visit, Bellatrix fumed in the corner while Andromeda tried to mollify her. Molly and I ended up playing with Narcissa. All was well.

"Don't tell your parents about what happened." I tried to look menacing. My parents did _not_ need to find out about this incident, especially when I was supposed to be on my best behavior.

I was pretty sure my threatening face worked, because Andromeda nodded.

I wasn't too worried about Bellatrix. She wouldn't be saying anything to her parents because of her pride. If she told them she had been beaten by me, she'd be reprimanded for being weak, and it would be an even bigger blow to her pride.

During the entirety of dinner, Molly was an absolute menace to Bellatrix. Discreetly, of course. But she pretty damn ruthless and I finally realized how much my brothers and I had influenced her. Now I knew to never mess with Molly.

Poor Bellatrix was chasing around her silverware and constantly getting her foot stomped on. It had been someone's bright idea to put Molly and Bellatrix next to each other. Molly was using her wandless magic to mess with Bellatrix, and though Bellatrix knew someone was harassing her, she just didn't know who it was.

When it was time for the sisters to leave, Bellatrix couldn't look happier. I think Andromeda shot me a dirty look on her way out, but I couldn't be sure. She was probably angry that I'd set her sister's hair on fire, but had conflicted feelings about it because Bellatrix bullied her a lot. I definitely didn't make a good first impression on those two, but Narcissa had started crying when her mum took her from my lap. I'd actually grown rather attached to Narcissa as well—she was such a cute and innocent child.

"Here." I handed Narcissa a white stuffed rabbit. "Come and visit me again, okay?" I ruffled her hair fondly.

She gave a watery sniff and hugged me as tightly as her tiny arms could. "Bye, Genny." She squeezed the rabbit so hard I thought its stuffing was going to fall out.

After they left, mum sat Molly and I down.

"What happened?"

Molly shot me a sly look.

"Nothing, mum. Bellatrix was just mad that there wasn't going to be any pudding for dessert. And Gen was on her best behavior the whole time."

"Yeah, I was super good." I added, "So good that I deserve an extra slice of cake. And Mols, 'cause she was nice to the Black sisters."

"Really?" Mum peered at us suspiciously, but decided it was better not to ask.

"Fine, fine." She laughed, and brought us to the kitchen for another slice of double chocolate cake. I was pretty excited because I'd just gotten rewarded for setting someone's hair on fire, and chocolate cake was the food of the gods.

000

And when the year finally ended, and my brothers came home, I was ready to start my year at Hogwarts. I'd been waiting years for this, and it was about time I'd finally get my wand. I couldn't wait for all the things I could do with my magic, now that I had a wand.

My brothers shot me alarmed looks when I chuckled gleefully under my breath.

"What are you planning?" Fabian asked. Good things did not happen when I laughed like that. The last time I'd had a big plan, I'd accidentally blown up their textbooks. Don't ask me how it happened; it'd just happened. My hate for studying had nothing to do with it.

"Nothing." I smirked evilly and went back to flipping through a book of destructive spells.

"By the way," Fabian continued, wisely moving away from the subject.

"We heard that you set Bellatrix Black's hair on fire." Gideon finished his sentence.

"Molly told you?"

"Yeah. I'm so proud of you! You really are our sister." Fabian and Gideon pretended to wipe away fake tears of pride.

"Oh, shut up." I told them fondly. I'd really missed their antics, and I could tell the rest of my family had too. Having them back was like a puzzle finally being completed.

There was a long future ahead of me, if I stayed alive, and I needed my family to stay alive as well.

And it wasn't like I was completely ignorant towards the future. I knew my brothers were going to die, and I wouldn't let that happen—but that was twenty or so years into the future, so I figured I had enough time to make myself into a brilliant witch and ensure their survival. I didn't like planning ahead; plans never went the way you wanted them to go, and I'd much rather go with the flow and just take things as they came. If life was going to be unpredictable, then so was I. I only had my years at Hogwarts until the war officially started, and I planned to make the most of them.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I know the timeline is moving on pretty quickly but I'll try to make everything make sense. I actually wasn't sure on how to portray Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa, but I hope it was plausible. Narcissa is just three, so she's innocent and doesn't fully understand the world yet. Andromeda seems like the type to try to get along with her sisters, and is really nice. And Bellatrix seems like she'd be a bratty and whiny child. Though I'm not really sure how her descent into insanity started. Also, does anyone know any of the characters from Molly's timeline besides Arthur? I have no idea which characters went to school during that time period besides the Black sisters.** **And if there are any mistakes or problems you see, please let me know. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Diagon Alley was a godsend. It had everything I could ever imagine; everything I needed and wanted. It was perfect for all my plans. All the supplies I needed could be attained—it was just the matter of getting them.

It was an abuse of my family's ancestry to use the family vault for my personal means, but I'd never been more thankful we were rich.

When mum took all of us to Diagon Alley, it took a lot of begging, tears, bribes that didn't work, and whining for mum to finally let me go off by myself for a while. She didn't want us to get separated, so I had to promise to meet her back at Flourish and Blotts in two hours. Fabian and Gideon ran off by themselves as well, and Molly stayed with our mum like the good daughter she was.

I walked aimlessly, gripping my new wand in my hand and enjoying the feeling of having one. Although I wouldn't be able to do any magic outside of Hogwarts, just having the wand was a major boost of power for me.

The whole place was crowded since all the parents were fighting to get supplies for all the new first years going to Hogwarts, so I hugged the sides and the paths with less people. All the crowding was starting to make me feel suffocated, so I barged through the mass of people, pushing my way through to try and get to a sparsely populated area.

I was so fixated on trying to get away that I ended up in a dark and musty alley without even noticing how I got there. The alley was narrow and shadowed, the buildings smothering whatever natural sunlight that tried to make its way into the path. There weren't many people, but the few that were there slouched against the walls in ratty robes and leered at me as I tried to get by.

Well, there went my plan for trying to find some good items for mild explosions.

My skin crawled and the stares felt eerily malicious, but I straightened my back and kept my head up, pushing away my fear. Showing any weakness would make them more inclined to approach me. And besides, it was an almost exciting situation—my heart pounded loudly in my chest, and it felt like something surreal; like something I could never experience.

Adrenalin was thrumming through my veins, and I discreetly watched my surroundings from the corners of my eyes. Thankfully, I'd worn black robes that didn't make me look wealthy or well off, and though the witches and wizard's eyes followed me, they didn't try to approach me.

I took a deep breath and let it out; pushing away my fear. I'd make the most out of this situation while trying to find my way back to Diagon Alley. The only issue was finding someone trustworthy enough to give me the right directions.

The shops were a sharp contrast from the ones in Diagon Alley—they were dark, small, and seedy. There were no flashy signs or warm colors—just a cold, lonely area.

I stopped at a relatively cleaner looking shop and glanced at the moldy wooden sign above it. It read "Wizarding Supplies". The name of the shop looked relatively harmless—a lot better than one that I'd seen called "The Coffin Shop"—so I walked in. The door creaked slowly as I opened it, and I shifted uneasily before walking in. Hopefully no one would be stupid enough to try and murder me—it would be too obvious and whoever tried to kill me would easily get caught. An eleven year old girl going missing in a shady area would be a blazing neon sign.

The shopkeeper looked up as I stepped in and narrowed his eyes. He was an old man with brown, sunken eyes and thin white hair.

"Who might you be?" He croaked. His voice creaked with old age and something else I couldn't identify.

I looked around at the items in his shop and noted that everything was a lot more interesting than the ones I'd ever seen before. If I could, I'd definitely come here again.

"I'm Gen." I left out my last name on purpose and tried to gauge his reaction.

"What do you want?" He didn't even bother asking why someone like me was here, and just glared down at me.

I debated internally with myself. Should I ask him for directions or not? He seemed harmless, but then again, lots of serial killers seem normal before they kill their victims.

"Can I see your trash?" I blurted, my mind blanking out on me.

"What?" His eyebrows raised in surprise and I nearly bit my cheek off from trying not to laugh at my idiotic question.

"It's for a personal project." I continued, deciding that I might as well keep up with the lie. It was only a partial lie, anyway. I really was looking for something for my plans. "I'm looking for some items."

"Yeah right, kid. Get outta here." He sent me a disbelieving nasty look and I stuck my tongue out at him childishly before turning around to leave.

"I guess you won't mind if I go through your trash then!" I yelled cheekily as I ran out the door. I didn't bother waiting for a reply and went straight to the back of his shop, looking for the trash.

Ha. That'd show him. I thrust my hands into the pile of discarded objects in the bin and was relived to find that it didn't smell bad.

I rummaged through a few things, looking for something that would be useful to me. It was just a bunch of broken flasks, weird looking skulls (I stayed far away from those), and a few other objects I couldn't identify.

There was a shiny silver ring with a dark red jewel that caught my eye. I briefly wondered why it was in the trash but shrugged my shoulders and reached for it. Another man's trash was another man's treasure, right?

"What the bloody hell are you _doing_?" A deep, gruff voice suddenly interrupted me from my task.

I looked up to see a young man, possibly in his early twenties, glaring down at me with sharp blue eyes.

 _Sweet baby Jesus._

He was _hot_. Tall, dark, and handsome? Check.

I blinked up at him and grinned widely. I hadn't been around any attractive males—well males that weren't under the age of 18—and in my first time in a creepy place, I'd hit the jackpot.

"Nothing!" I chirped, and pulled my hands innocently out of the dumpster. "Can't a girl dig through the trash when she wants to?"

He squinted suspiciously at me. "What are you doing here?"

That was a good question.

"I dunno." I told him honestly. I straightened up from my crouched position and shifted the bag on my shoulder, trying to look as harmless as possible. Which wasn't hard to do, considering that I was a tiny eleven year old girl.

The young man grunted and shrugged, losing interest now that I'd stopped whatever I was doing. He ruffled his dark, curly hair, gave me one last long look, and walked away.

Was I going to let the hottest guy I'd seen since I was reborn get away? Hell no.

So like any average and self-respecting person, I followed him.

Once I had strayed behind him for long enough to look suspicious, he stopped and turned around.

"Are you following me?" He asked angrily, his lips curling into a growl.

"Yeah." I answered happily, not looking the slightest bit alarmed.

"Why?" He demanded. The air seemed to shift around him, and instinctively, the hairs on the back of my neck raised. Something primal was screaming at me that this guy was _dangerous_.

I ignored it.

"Because I want to."

" _Stop_ _it_. This isn't a place for a kid to be anyway. Where are your parents?"

I shrugged and answered vaguely. "Somewhere. And I'm not a kid."

"Sure you aren't." Sarcasm laced his voice with angry barbs. "Now scram; I don't have time to deal with a bratty kid."

I bristled and frowned at being called a bratty kid. "I am _not_."

He sighed wearily and pinched the bridge of his nose with irritation. "Whatever. Just get outta here."

There was a slight accent to his words that I hadn't noticed before. It was kind of strange, because mostly everyone from the Wizarding community in this area had a similar type of speech.

Before I could ask him about it, he huffed and stomped away, looking annoyed. I stood still for a bit before following him, trying to be discreet.

 _Ha, I'm so sneaky_. I smirked smugly.

"Stop following me!" The hot guy's voice echoed from where he was standing, and I nearly groaned with frustration.

How the hell did he even notice me? I should have been far enough to be unnoticeable.

I started sprinting to catch up with his long strides, and by the time I reached him, he'd stopped shooting me wary looks and was now standing in front of a shop colored black everywhere. There wasn't a spot of color—it was just black. The sign above it read "The Spiny Serpent" and the large window displayed a few large vases that seemed to have no use.

The hot guy ignored my presence and grabbed the huge knocker on the wooden door. For a moment, nothing happened, but he gripped his wand and muttered something under his breath. There was a long groaning noise, and the door flew open.

He quickly stepped in and I did the same before the door slammed shut again.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked me irritably, while nodding to the hooded shopkeeper.

I shrugged and skipped over to the shopkeeper who was so heavily cloaked I couldn't even tell if the person was a man or a woman.

"Hi! Who are you?" Even though the shopkeeper looked mildly suspicious, he/she seemed like a cool person to get to know.

The shopkeeper didn't say a word and just peered at me. Or at least it looked like the shopkeeper was watching me; I couldn't even see his/her eyes.

"Ignore her." Grumbled the hot guy, who had apparently given up on trying to get me to stop following him.

"That's mean." I declared, and quickly made my way back to the hot guy's side, who was rolling his eyes.

He walked to the back of the room and did something that I couldn't see—his back was wide enough to cover my view, and I was sadly too short to do any spying.

A secret door popped open, and he stepped through without waiting for me. I slid through the closing door with a huff, annoyed that'd he'd rudely shut the door in my face.

"Who the fuck is this, Elias?" I looked up to see a rough looking middle aged man sitting on a small wooden chair glaring at me.

I scanned the large room, which kinda looked like the inside of a warehouse. It had a single lamp hanging in the middle of the ceiling, which gave off a surprising amount of light, and there were pieces of furniture scattered everywhere with people lounging on them.

"I'm his girlfriend." I chirped, and beamed innocently.

There was a long silence as everyone in the room turned to stare at me.

"Wha—" Spluttered the hot guy, looking at me incredulously.

"Pedophilia, Griggs? Didn't know that was another crime on your track record." A beautiful young woman with long, black hair and icy black eyes deadpanned, arching a thin eyebrow.

She looked a hundred times more badass than anyone else in the room—even with robes on. I ditched the hot guy who was still gaping like a fish and made my way over to her.

"Just kidding! I'm your long lost sister." I smiled widely at her and she gave me a blank look.

"I'm pretty sure my family doesn't have any redheads." She answered blandly.

"It was a genetic defect. I actually have black hair, you just can't see it." I told her solemnly.

"Let's just Obliviate her." Hot guy—whose name was apparently Elias Griggs—offered, gripping me by the scruff of my collar and effectively interrupting my very serious conversation.

"Unhand me, you fool!" I struggled and kicked like an angry chicken.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do much damage in such a small body, and Elias Griggs held me up like I weighed no more than a pillow.

"Wait. What's your name?" Asked the middle aged man who looked like the leader of the ragtag group.

I gave up on struggling and dangled by my collar, the tips of my feet brushing the ground.

"I'll tell you if the rude guy over here stops choking me." I grumbled, glaring at nothing.

"Elias, put her down."

I felt my feet land firmly on the floor and I sighed with relief. Wonderful, glorious air was filling my lungs again and I nearly fell to the ground and started kissing it.

"I'm Curious George." I wasn't about to give them my real name—I wasn't _that_ stupid. And besides, I probably should have been named Curious George anyway. I always managed to stick my nose into other people's business and land myself into a shitload of trouble. Not that I really minded, anyway—getting into trouble was exhilarating, as long as I didn't die.

"Really." The presumed leader gave me a disbelieving and dry look.

"Yup!" I looked around the room, taking note of all the people. There were a total of six people, and all of them seemed to be in the age range of the twenties to forties. The oldest guy was the one talking to me now, and he looked to be around fifty.

"So what's up with this? Are you guys a cool kids group or something?"

No one seemed to understand the Muggle reference.

"We're a crime group. We smuggle in Muggle drugs like cocaine and do other illegal acts." His lips curled and his teeth glinted eerily in the dull lighting. It kinda sounded like he was trying to dumb it down for my physical age, which annoyed me; but I brushed it off.

He paused and seemed like he was waiting for me to say something.

So I did.

Before I could even think about it, the words were out of my mouth. "Cool! Can I join?"

I'd always wanted to be a badass, and this was a pretty badass group.

There was no answer, just silence. I'd probably hit the weirdness quota for their day because no one said anything for a really long time. I counted all the seconds—it was 72 in total.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? _Why_ would you want to join a crime group?" The pretty dark-haired woman asked me incredulously.

"Because I want to. Well, can I?" I gave the middle-aged man a fierce stare. "C'mon, just tell me. You're the leader, aren't you?"

"I'm the leader." He agreed. "But that doesn't mean I want a _kid_ to join. Do you even understand the full consequences of what we do?"

"Yeah, you kidding? I'm not an idiot. And I'm not a kid." I kicked out my foot childishly and pouted.

"Well, the answer's no, in any case. You're an interesting one, but I don't need any kids in my organization."

"Hey, Boss, just give her a chance." Called out a young man, who was sitting on a couch with his arms folded. The air around him seemed almost refined; which was strange, considering the setting, and he sat ramrod straight, contrasting clearly with the others, who were slouching.

"Um," I interjected, before the Boss could really _think_ about the problems with letting an eleven year old child join a crime syndicate, "If I can get you something of value, will you let me join?"

The Boss raised an eyebrow. "What do you, a little kid, know about value? Don't underestimate the gravity of the things we do here."

I matched his raised eyebrow with my own. "Do I really seem like I wouldn't understand the meaning of value in this kind of organization? I like to say I'm mature for my age. And besides, I know what I'm getting into."

Actually, I had no idea what I was getting into. Besides the fact that this group consisted of more badassery (besides my mum) than I'd seen the entire time I'd been born into this world, I was clueless.

This was very, very bad, but frankly, I didn't give a shit, as long as I could do what I wanted. And I'd always wanted to be part of a secret organization.

The young man who'd spoken earlier let out a delicate snort (not that snorts could be elegant, but somehow, he made it seem that way). "Well, it wouldn't hurt to let the kid try, right Boss?"

"Black—" The Boss started with irritation, lifting one hand to rub his temples.

"I'll even take an Unbreakable Vow." I offered, looking eager.

The Boss took in a deep breath and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Fuck no. You're a damn kid!"

"Fine, fine." I grumbled. "How about this? We can go the democratic way. There are eight people in the room, including you, so if five vote to give me a chance, you gotta give me one. Deal?"

There was a general silence in the room that made it feel colder and emptier. Finally, the Boss relented and gave me a terse nod.

"Alright! Let's get this vote going, people!" I cheered.

"Those who want to give this kid a chance, shoot red sparks. Those who don't, shoot blue sparks." The Boss said this like he was in pain, with a very aggravated expression on his face.

I sniggered.

Sparks went up from different areas of the room. I counted five red sparks and glared at Elias Griggs, because he'd shot up blue sparks.

He may have been hot, but he was an arsehole.

"YES!" I cackled, and ran towards the Boss. "So what's the task? I'll do anything—you name it. What do you need? Pots, pans, books?"

I had a strange feeling that half of the people in the room were rolling their eyes and the other half was smirking.

"I want an invisibility cloak. And not those shitty ones that are more useless than a weak Disillusionment charm. No, I'm talking about a _real_ one. One that sells for at least 750 galleons each in the black market."

The Boss grinned like a bloodthirsty shark. It was a near-impossible task for an average eleven year old, and he and I both knew that.

 _Aw, fuck._

Where the hell was I supposed to get one of those?

"How long do I have?" I asked, trying to stall for time.

"Two months." His tone left no room for argument.

"Heh. Easy peasy. I got this." I bluffed, smirking confidently.

The tiny, almost nonexistent rational side of me was shaking its head furiously.

"We'll do a binding contract." The Boss said decidedly, "So you won't be able to talk about anything related to this group."

"I don't even know the _name_ of the group!" I protested halfheartedly. It wasn't that I really minded; I just didn't want him to have to last word.

"You'll find out if you can complete the objective." His grin was razor-sharp. "Now give me your hand."

Reluctantly, I pulled my hand out from behind my back and offered it to him, like a guilty child.

He reached out to grab it but I thrust it forward and smacked him on the face.

"Ha! Psych!"

The severe-looking, middle-aged Boss of a crime syndicate gaped unattractively, losing his composure.

"Better shut your mouth or you'll catch flies." I stated smugly.

I'd always wanted to use that line.

" _You_ —" He stopped and was at a loss for words.

A red-headed man looking to be around the age of thirty burst out in laughter.

"I like this one, Boss." He gasped out.

The badass dark-haired girl smacked the back of his head.

"Idiots." She muttered, looking at the two of us.

Cheekily, I gave her a thumbs up.

The Boss snatched my hand before I could say or do anything else.

"Repeat after me." He let out a string of Latin words I couldn't really understand and I dutifully repeated them, still inwardly sniggering at his poor attempt to gloss over the whole situation.

He was trying to ignore the whole thing, but I could see a tinge of red on his ears and neck.

A long, silvery mark spiraled from the back of my hand up to my shoulder.

"Uh." I said intelligently. Mum was going to _kill me_ if she ever saw this.

Looks like it was long sleeves for the rest of the summer.

"Don't worry; it's invisible to everyone except for the people in this room." The Boss reassured me with a smug look.

I blinked and saw a similar silvery mark spiraling up his arm.

Elias Griggs, who was standing near me, had a similar mark running up his left arm.

And so did everyone else in the room.

I guess everyone had to do the whole "secrecy" thing before joining.

"Elias, take her back." Now that the whole ordeal was over, the Boss had sunk back into his chair with his arms crossed.

"What, no party?" I asked, disappointed.

Griggs shot me an are-you-kidding-me look.

"Bye!" I waved at the whole room, and no one waved back except for the redheaded man.

"See ya, Curious George!" He called, and I saluted him.

Us redheads gotta stick together.

The young man who'd suggested I get a chance had an amused look on his face, while the badass girl was just looking bored.

Griggs grabbed my collar ( _again_ ) and dragged me out the door as I sobbed crocodile tears, calling out "I'll be back!" with an outstretched arm.

Celine Dion's _My Heart Will Go On_ started playing in my head.

I still remembered watching _Titanic_ , which I'd thought was a colossal failure—mostly because Rose had been too stupid to let Jack hang onto the board with her. Jack could have easily survived, and I'd found the whole "I'll never let go" thing pretty hilarious.

"My heart will go on and onnnnnnnnnn." I deadpanned as Griggs dragged me out the door of The Spiny Serpent.

He gave me a strange look and sighed. "I don't even want to know."

"Your loss." I shrugged, still echoing the lyrics in my mind. "Now let me go."

He dropped me on the ground, where I lay in an undignified heap.

"Gee, thanks." I muttered, rubbing my bum and standing up.

"I'll meet you here in exactly two months when the task is over." He looked like the words were excruciating for him to say, and didn't look too happy at being forced into the role of my caretaker.

I didn't say anything and instead got distracted by the different shops surrounding the area. I hadn't gotten a good look before, mostly because I was trying to keep up with Griggs, but I had plenty of time now.

Or not.

"SHIT!" I cursed, glancing down at my watch.

Three hours had already passed and I was _late_.

"See you at my funeral." I told Griggs, praying that mum wouldn't skin me alive.

"What?" He asked, his brow furrowing (attractively, I might add).

"I'm late, and I don't know how I got here."

"You— _you don't know how you got here_?" He looked like he was having a ruptured aneurysm. "I should've known."

"So pretty please, with cherry on top; take me back to Diagon Alley?" I folded my hands and adopted the face of an angel.

"Diagon Alley." I could swear his eye was twitching. "You're from _Diagon Alley_."

"Yeah?" What was the big deal?

"Never mind." There was an awkward silence. Then, "Why don't you ask what will happen if you don't complete the task?"

"Meh. Why think about that now?" I answered nonchalantly, staring openly at a witch passing by. She looked strangely familiar—and she was young. Like Hogwarts young.

I was lost in my thoughts for a moment as I tried to remember where I'd seen her before.

"Are you even listening?" Griggs snarled with frustration.

"Not really." I replied absently.

"Anyway!" I suddenly said, breaking away from my contemplation. "Can you bring me back? Preferably in five minutes."

"Oh Merlin." Muttered Griggs, "C'mon, let's go."

He steered me in the right direction by gripping my shoulder, and led me down a maze of back alleyways.

It was too complicated for me to remember, so I just let myself get lost in my thoughts—again.

"Did you go to Hogwarts?"

"Not telling." Grunted Griggs.

"Fine. Be that way." I glowered. I was just trying to make casual conversation.

" _Not telling_." I mimicked him rudely under my breath.

"I heard that." He snapped.

"Bleh." I stuck my tongue out. "So why do you guys want an invisibility cloak anyway?"

"Because good invisibility cloaks are rare. Most of them are useless, but people always try to sell fakes as ones of quality." He stopped talking and considered me for a moment.

"And?" I prompted, curious as to why he stopped.

"And we're trying to make our own invisibility cloak. It's hard to tell if the cloak's absolute shite until you buy it, and by then, it's already too late. We need a good one to break down its enchantments." Then grudgingly, he added, "Allyena's brilliant with that. She's our enchantment and warding expert."

Allyena? Who was that?

I ran through my memory of the room, and deduced that Allyena must be the last name of the badass girl—she was the only female, after all.

Ha—deduced. I could be Sherlock Holmes of the Wizarding World.

Griggs shot me another strange look when I giggled to myself.

"Just because I'm telling you all this doesn't mean I think you'll get in. In fact, I'm a hundred percent sure you'll fail. It'll take a miracle for you to finish the assignment."

"Wanna bet on that?" It didn't matter that he didn't think I could do it—all that mattered was that I believed I could.

(This kind of thinking would get me killed one day, but hopefully that was in the far future.)

"No. I'm not taking money from a _kid_."

"Dammit." I really wanted those Galleons. "Well, you'll owe me ten Galleons if I can do it."

"What." He deadpanned, "I never agreed to that."

"You just did!" The bright, familiar red bricks of Diagon Alley came into view. "Looks like we're here; so no take backs! You owe me ten Galleons when I get in."

" _If_ you get in." He stressed the _if_.

I rubbed my hands together evilly. "Oh, we'll see about that."

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes, "Just get going, kid. I've got places to be, people to see."

"See ya later, alligator. Make sure you have ten Galleons on hand for next time!" I gave him a thumbs up and scurried off to where I was supposed to meet my family an hour ago.

"I don't even know what that thumb thing means." I could hear him mutter as I ran off.

Heh. Wizards.

Being a Muggle in my past life was a huge advantage that I'd be overusing the hell out of. It was hilarious seeing magical people confused by my Muggle expressions and actions.

The gold and brown exterior of Flourish and Blotts came into view, and I steeled myself for an explosion from my mum.

Slowly, I pushed the door open. And saw my mum and sister staring at me.

" _Genevieve Mauria Prewett._ WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN." Mum's face was bright scarlet with rage, and she trembled furiously.

"Well, some guy offered me candy so I followed him and then lotsa stuff happened. There was a crazy toad and—"

Mum cut me off mid-ramble. "This is _not a joke_. Do you know how worried I was? I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you. Good thing Molly decided we should stay here in case you came—your brothers are still outside looking for you! When we go home, I'm putting a tracking spell on your watch!"

"But mum, I didn't mean to! I just lost track of time. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it! Our whole family has been searching for you—do you know how much worry and trouble you caused us?"

"It wasn't even my fault; I got lost! And besides, it isn't even that big of a deal. Nothing happened!" I protested angrily, wishing that mum would just stop yelling already.

" _Not a big deal_?" Screeched mum, "You could've gotten hurt—or worse, killed! We searched the entirety of Diagon Alley for you, and you weren't there! You were at Knockturn Alley, weren't you? After all the times I told you _not to go there_!"

"I told you, I got lost! It's not my fault! Stop making such a big deal out of this!"

"You could have gotten killed. Killed! Do you even know how vicious those witches and wizards in Knockturn Alley are? Are you even sorry?"

"Mum, nothing happened! And I _am_ sorry; just stop being so mad! I didn't do anything wrong—I got lost and I couldn't get back until now!"

" _That's not the point_!" In her anger, mum looked like a giant. Her chest heaved violently and her arms were folded tightly.

"Okay, okay. Sorry!" I grumbled unhappily. I seriously hadn't done anything wrong.

"Molly, go fetch your brothers." Mum said in a tight voice.

"Yes mum." Molly scampered out the door anxiously.

After she left, mum turned to me. "You, Genevieve Prewett, are not leaving my sight for the rest of the summer. You're grounded!"

"Mum!" I gaped at her, horrified. If I was grounded, I wouldn't be able to go to Diagon Alley. And then I wouldn't be able to find an invisibility cloak.

"You're grounded." She repeated firmly, glaring at me.

Roughly, she gripped my arm and marched me out the shop to meet up with my siblings.

Molly reappeared with Gideon and Fabian, who shook their heads at me, as if to say, _really?_

I shot daggers at them.

The way back home was dead silence, and I ran straight up to my room when we got back and slammed the door.

I was acting like a petulant and spoiled child, but I didn't care. I didn't care that I was an adult; that I should be handling the whole problem maturely. All I could see was the unfairness of the situation, and my temper flared with the injustice of it all.

It must have been some time—I couldn't tell—but Molly knocked on my door after a while.

I knew it was her because it was a single, soft knock.

"What." I said irritably.

"It's time for dinner." She answered, voice muffled by the door.

"I'm not hungry."

"Gen," she sighed, "Let me in."

I got up from my huddled turtle-like position under the blankets and shuffled to the door.

My hair stuck up in practically every direction, and I probably looked like a nightmare.

When I opened the door, Molly marched in and sat on my bed.

I shut the door. "So?"

"Gen, look. Mum's only mad 'cause you're her daughter. She loves you. You should've seen how scared she was when you didn't show up. Her face turned whiter than that coconut pudding she makes every Sunday."

"Pudding? _Really_?" I asked dryly.

Molly rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. The thing is, we were all really scared. What if you had gotten hurt, Gen? You may have not gotten injured this time, but what about next time? Mum just wants to make sure you're okay. And you didn't show up for a _full hour_."

Guilt hit me like a giant wrecking ball. That was right—I still had a _family_. A family that loved me, that cared about me. In all my excitement, I'd forgotten about that.

"I'm sorry." I muttered, scuffling the floor with my toe and averting my gaze downwards.

"Don't tell that to me, tell that to mum." Molly smiled quietly and took my hand. "Now let's go get dinner."

"Okay." I followed her like an obedient puppy, and she tugged me down the stairs tenderly.

Mum's back was facing us and she was mixing some juice in the kitchen.

I hesitated, shame washing over me.

"Go on." Murmured Molly, shoving me forward.

I stumbled a bit and awkwardly approached mum.

"Mum?" I started nervously, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize all the trouble I caused, and how worried you were. But I get it now. I'm sorry."

Mum slowly turned around. Her eyes were rimmed with red and she didn't look too great herself either.

"It's alright, Gen. I'm just glad you're okay." She opened her arms and I tackled her with a hug.

"You're still grounded though." She sniffed into my messy hair.

" _Mum_." I half groaned, half chuckled.

Later that night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I really was sorry for what I'd done, but at the same time, I couldn't stop what I had started.

The whole adventure had been indescribably exhilarating.

And I wanted more—even if I would get hurt.

It was what I wanted to do, and I would do it. I wouldn't let anything or anyone stop me—I'd just hide it better from my family.

A pang of guilt stabbed me; I didn't want to lie to the people I cared about. But it was worth it.

The things I'd do, the things I'd see, the people I'd meet—it was all in my future, and I wasn't going to let it go.

* * *

 **A/N: There's always some drug culture wherever you go, and organizations like the mafia or gangs or yakuza are pretty prevalent. So I thought the wizarding world should have a black market/crime syndicate type thing. I'm going to try to make the illegal dealings/crime syndicate as realistic as possible (though I'm not great with economics and illegal dealings and the like) but this is also a crack fic, so there's going to be not as much focus on the darker aspects of these kind of dealings (though it will be touched on). Generally, a lot of weird shit will happen.**

 **I'd like to emphasize, once again, that Genevieve is not a good person. So don't expect any more consideration for her family any time soon. And she's not going to be a good student either—she's too busy doing whatever she wants whenever she wants.**

 **One of the characters in this chapter is part of the Black family. The reasons for him being there will be explained in later chapters (I guess there's going to be more politics and power-struggles in this than I originally anticipated) and even though he seems out of place, it'll hopefully make sense in later chapters. His character isn't really developed in the books and I've always found him interesting, so I looked up his estimated birth and death years (he died suspiciously early) and decided that it made sense with my plans for him.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! I really appreciate it. And thank you to xenocanaan, DarkDust27, Goldspark1,** **Winterlover6,** **JBebe, ellietischler, Mari Wollsch, and Regin for reviewing! Please let me know if you have any issues or concerns that you want to point out, and thanks for reading. (And sorry for the long A/N.)**


End file.
